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Tennis: An alternate take on greatness


Muloghonto

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In the discussions about greatness, the unfortunate inevitability of the exercise is to focus on who is the greatest. It always boils down to 1-3 names who's qualities & failings- real or imagined are discussed to the nth degree. What is sad, is it misses out the other 0.1% players who are truely great but won't perhaps match the statistical/justifiable arguments pertaining to the 'golden two/three' that are always in the mix. For eg, we always talk about Federer-Djokovic-Nadal, in no particular order, as the three greatest tennis players. Or Sachin and Lara. Lost in the hubris are the others. So, with that in mind, here is the scenario: It is summer of 2009/2010 or so. French Open is over, 3 great events remain: Wimbledon, US Open and the Tour Finals. Federer is still at his peak (though not absolute peak, which IMO came earlier). Nadal is definitely at his peak. Djokovic is not at his absolute peak but he is at his 'can beat anyone except those two regularly' young self. Your task: Find/nominate a player who you think, has the best possible results against these three at Wimbledon(grass), US Open (Outdoor hard, fast) & ATP Finals (indoor hard, fast). This player will face Djokovic in the QF, Nadal in the SF and Federer in the Finals (or Federer in the Semis/Nadal in the Finals) in Wimbledon & US Open. This player will be grouped with atleast two of the three above in the Tour Finals group and will play atleast 3 matches against those three to win the tour finals. This player can be from any era at their peak, including the Pro-exclusives, IE, if you want to nominate Gonzales, its acceptable too. I will get the ball rolling : Pete Sampras.

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For eg' date= we always talk about Federer-Djokovic-Nadal, in no particular order, as the three greatest tennis players. Or Sachin and Lara. Lost in the hubris are the others. So, with that in mind, here is the scenario: It is summer of 2009/2010 or so. French Open is over, 3 great events remain: Wimbledon, US Open and the Tour Finals. Your task: Find/nominate a player who you think, has the best possible results against these three at Wimbledon(grass), US Open (Outdoor hard, fast) & ATP Finals (indoor hard, fast). This player will face Djokovic in the QF, Nadal in the SF and Federer in the Finals (or Federer in the Semis/Nadal in the Finals) in Wimbledon & US Open.
That is by far the most difficult task in tennis. But here goes, since the clay season is over and it's kind of convenient you've picked a time post clay season, but of course it would go in the favour of Sampras. I also think a fully fit Del Potro could give them a serious run, he did crush Nadal and then beat a peak Fed in 2009. Djokovic was not a beast in 2009.
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This is easy. Sampras. Sampras had such a unfair advantage over others. His first serve was a killer and he could easily cover the court. His down the line drives were beautiful and he has so much confidence in his shots. Seldom you would see a long rally because he could finish off the points at will. But we are talking at his peak. French courts would negate some of his power hitting advantage but yes it has to be Sampras. If it was grass or hard courts definitely him but clay was difficult but if anyone could do it it was sampras.

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This is easy. Sampras. Sampras had such a unfair advantage over others. His first serve was a killer and he could easily cover the court. His down the line drives were beautiful and he has so much confidence in his shots. Seldom you would see a long rally because he could finish off the points at will. But we are talking at his peak. French courts would negate some of his power hitting advantage but yes it has to be Sampras. If it was grass or hard courts definitely him but clay was difficult but if anyone could do it it was sampras.
I agree to what you said but how is having a superior serve is a unfair advantage? :cantstop:
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I agree to what you said but how is having a superior serve is a unfair advantage? :cantstop:
Not in that respect but he was so much better that he held his serve easily. If his serve pinned you down the problem was compounded by the fact that he was on the net in few steps and finishing off the point. Just lot of power when he was at peak.
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I nominate Rod Laver. :--D. expecting a bradman vs sachin esque one :D
Rod Laver was good too but someone needs tp analyze the margin by which laver was desposing off the competition to Sampras. If you look at Federer he has the least amount of unforced errors compared to other.
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Rod Laver was good too but someone needs tp analyze the margin by which laver was desposing off the competition to Sampras. If you look at Federer he has the least amount of unforced errors compared to other.
Both Federer and Sampras are very poor against the best in clay courts. Laver won everywhere.
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Both Federer and Sampras are very poor against the best in clay courts. Laver won everywhere.
Because in US it is all hard courts. At club level you will have clay courts but US and Australia competitive is hard court. Nadal practises on clay in spain so he had advantage. If you play on clay it considerably slows down the game and changing direction is a beech. I really dont know enough about laver so I cannot comment but clay is a different ball game. when I used to play I preferred clay because of my knees but if you are athletic you need hard surface. Damn ball flies.
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A young Federer had defeated Sampras in a WImbledon QF didnt he? I saw that game live... How was Bjorn Borg in comparison to them...?
Borg in retrospect was OK in my mind. Very slow no power hitting but did win a lot. When I watch old tapes makes me wonder how he won. Age catches up with you. You just dont have the reflexes.
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